Basis of Presentation (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2019

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Our interim condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the instructions to Form 10-Q and, therefore, do not necessarily include all information and footnotes necessary for a fair statement of our condensed consolidated financial position, results of operations, and cash flows in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”).

Basis of Consolidation

Our condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all of our accounts, including those of our controlled subsidiaries. The portions of equity in consolidated subsidiaries that are not attributable, directly or indirectly, to us are presented as noncontrolling interests. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated.

Variable Interest Entity

When we obtain an economic interest in an entity, we evaluate the entity to determine if it should be deemed a variable interest entity (“VIE”) and, if so, whether we are the primary beneficiary and are therefore required to consolidate the entity. We apply accounting guidance for consolidation of VIEs to certain entities in which the equity investors do not have the characteristics of a controlling financial interest or do not have sufficient equity at risk for the entity to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support from other parties. Fixed price purchase and renewal options within a lease, as well as certain decision-making rights within a loan or joint-venture agreement, can cause us to consider an entity a VIE. Limited partnerships and other similar entities that operate as a partnership will be considered VIEs unless the limited partners hold substantive kick-out rights or participation rights. Significant judgment is required to determine whether a VIE should be consolidated. We review the contractual arrangements provided for in the partnership agreement or other related contracts to determine whether the entity is considered a VIE and to establish whether we have any variable interests in the VIE. We then compare our variable interests, if any, to those of the other variable interest holders to determine which party is the primary beneficiary of the VIE based on whether the entity (i) has the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the economic performance of the VIE and (ii) has the obligation to absorb losses or the right to receive benefits of the VIE that could potentially be significant to the VIE. The liabilities of these VIEs are non-recourse to us and can only be satisfied from each VIE’s respective assets.

Reclassifications

Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Pronouncements Adopted through March 31, 2019

In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). ASU 2016-02 modifies the principles for the recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure of leases for both parties to a contract: the lessee and the lessor. ASU 2016-02 provides new guidelines that change the accounting for leasing arrangements for lessees, whereby their rights and obligations under substantially all leases, existing and new, are capitalized and recorded on the balance sheet. For lessors, however, the new standard remains generally consistent with existing guidance, but has been updated to align with certain changes to the lessee model and ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606).

We adopted this guidance for our interim and annual periods beginning January 1, 2019 using the modified retrospective method, applying the transition provisions at the beginning of the period of adoption rather than at the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented. We elected the package of practical expedients as permitted under the transition guidance, which allowed us to not reassess whether arrangements contain leases, lease classification, and initial direct costs. The adoption of the lease standard resulted in a cumulative effect adjustment recognized of $1.1 million in the opening balance of retained earnings as of January 1, 2019.

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As a Lessee: we recognized $36.7 million of operating lease right-of-use (“ROU”) assets and $9.5 million of corresponding lease liabilities for certain operating land lease arrangements for which we were the lessee on January 1, 2019, which included reclassifying below market intangible assets, above market intangible liabilities, prepaid rent and deferred rent as a component of the ROU asset (a net reclassification of $27.2 million). See Note 4 for additional disclosures on the presentation of these amounts in our condensed consolidated balance sheets.

ROU assets represent our right to use an underlying asset for the lease term and lease liabilities represent our obligation to make lease payments under the lease. We determine if an arrangement contains a lease at contract inception and determine the classification of the lease at commencement. Operating lease ROU assets and lease liabilities are recognized at the lease commencement date based on the present value of lease payments over the lease term. We do not include renewal options in the lease term when calculating the lease liability unless we are reasonably certain we will exercise the option. Variable lease payments are excluded from the ROU assets and lease liabilities and are recognized in the period in which the obligation for those payments is incurred. Our variable lease payments consist of increases as a result of the Consumer Price Index (“CPI”) or other comparable indices, taxes and maintenance costs. Lease expense for lease payments is recognized on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease.

The implicit rate within our operating leases is generally not determinable and, as a result, we use our incremental borrowing rate at the lease commencement date to determine the present value of lease payments. The determination of our incremental borrowing rate requires judgment. We determine our incremental borrowing rate for each lease using estimated baseline mortgage rates. These baseline rates are determined based on a review of current mortgage debt market activity for benchmark securities across domestic and international markets, utilizing a yield curve. The rates are then adjusted for various factors, including level of collateralization and lease term.

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As a Lessor: a practical expedient allows lessors to combine non-lease components (lease arrangements that include common area maintenance services) with related lease components (lease revenues), if both the timing and pattern of transfer are the same for the non-lease component and related lease component, the lease component is the predominant component, and the lease component would otherwise be classified as an operating lease. We elected the practical expedient. For (i) operating lease arrangements involving real estate that include common area maintenance services and (ii) all real estate arrangements that include real estate taxes and insurance costs, we present these amounts within Lease revenues — net-leased in our condensed consolidated statements of income. We record amounts reimbursed by the lessee in the period that the applicable expenses are incurred.

Under ASU 2016-02, lessors are allowed to only capitalize incremental direct leasing costs. We generally have not capitalized internal legal leasing costs incurred, and, as a result, will not be materially impacted by this change.

In addition, if a lessor determines subsequent to the commencement date of the lease, that collectability of lease payments under an operating lease is not probable, the lessor is required to recognize the difference between income recognized up to that point and the income that would have been recognized on a cash basis as a reduction of current period lease income. This differs from the previous guidance, where the lessor would recognize the effects of a change in the assessment of collectability as an addition to the bad debt reserve for amounts accrued at the time the collectability assessment changed. As a result, we recorded $0.8 million of current period adjustments to Lease revenues — net-leased during the three months ended March 31, 2019 as opposed to property expenses, which is where they were previously recorded.

In August 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-12, Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities. ASU 2017-12 makes more financial and nonfinancial hedging strategies eligible for hedge accounting. It also amends the presentation and disclosure requirements and eliminates the requirements to separately measure and disclose hedge effectiveness. It is intended to more closely align hedge accounting with companies’ risk management strategies, simplify the application of hedge accounting, and increase transparency as to the scope and results of hedging programs. We adopted this guidance for our interim and annual periods beginning January 1, 2019. The adoption of this standard impacted our condensed consolidated financial statements for both cash flow and net investment hedges. Changes in the fair value of our hedging instruments are no longer separated into effective and ineffective portions. The entire change in the fair value of these hedging instruments included in the assessment of effectiveness is now recorded in Accumulated other comprehensive loss. The impact to our condensed consolidated financial statements as a result of these changes was not material.

Pronouncements to be Adopted after March 31, 2019

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments — Credit Losses. ASU 2016-13 introduces a new model for estimating credit losses for certain types of financial instruments, including loans receivable, held-to-maturity debt securities, and net investments in direct financing leases, amongst other financial instruments. The measurement of expected credit losses is based on relevant information about past events, including historical experience, current conditions, and reasonable and supportable forecasts that affect the collectability of the reported amount. ASU 2016-13 also modifies the impairment model for available-for-sale debt securities and expands the disclosure requirements regarding an entity’s assumptions, models, and methods for estimating the allowance for losses. ASU 2016-13 will be effective for public business entities in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods within those fiscal years, with early application of the guidance permitted. We are in the process of evaluating the impact of adopting ASU 2016-13 on our condensed consolidated financial statements.

Intangible Assets and Liabilities

Amortization of below-market rent and above-market rent intangibles is recorded as an adjustment to Rental income; amortization of in-place lease intangibles is included in Depreciation and amortization expense; and amortization of below-market and above-market ground lease intangibles was included in Property expenses (prior to the reclassification of above-market ground lease and below-market lease intangibles to ROU assets within Right-of-use and other intangible assets during the first quarter of 2019, as described above).

Fair Value Measurements

The fair value of an asset is defined as the exit price, which is the amount that would either be received when an asset is sold or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. The guidance establishes a three-tier fair value hierarchy based on the inputs used in measuring fair value. These tiers are: Level 1, for which quoted market prices for identical instruments are available in active markets, such as money market funds, equity securities, and U.S. Treasury securities; Level 2, for which there are inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1 that are observable for the instrument, such as certain derivative instruments including interest rate caps, interest rate swaps, foreign currency forward contracts and foreign currency collars; and Level 3, for securities that do not fall into Level 1 or Level 2 and for which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring us to develop our own assumptions.

Derivative Assets and Liabilities — Our derivative assets and liabilities, which are included in Accounts receivable and other assets, net and Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities, respectively, in the condensed consolidated financial statements, are comprised of foreign currency forward contracts, interest rate swaps, interest rate caps, and foreign currency collars (Note 8). These derivative instruments were measured at fair value using readily observable market inputs, such as quotations on interest rates, and were classified as Level 2 as these instruments are custom, over-the-counter contracts with various bank counterparties that are not traded in an active market.

Derivatives

We measure derivative instruments at fair value and record them as assets or liabilities, depending on our rights or obligations under the applicable derivative contract. Derivatives that are not designated as hedges must be adjusted to fair value through earnings. For derivatives designated and that qualify as cash flow hedges, the change in fair value of the derivative is recognized in Other comprehensive income until the hedged transaction affects earnings. Gains and losses on the cash flow hedges representing hedge components excluded from the assessment of effectiveness are recognized in earnings over the life of the hedge on a systematic and rational basis, as documented at hedge inception in accordance with the Company’s accounting policy election. Such gains and losses are recorded within Other gains and (losses) or Interest expense in our condensed consolidated statements of income. The earnings recognition of excluded components is presented in the same line item as the hedged transactions. For derivatives designated and that qualify as a net investment hedge, the change in the fair value and/or the net settlement of the derivative is reported in Other comprehensive income as part of the cumulative foreign currency translation adjustment. Amounts are reclassified out of Other comprehensive income into earnings when the hedged net investment is either sold or substantially liquidated.